When requesting to tower to take off from present position on the field.

Q1) Is it more correct to say current position or present position or something else?Q2) What would that call sound like if at a towered field and the pilot is not looking for flightflo...Oshkosh Tower, N123AB, Bell 407 slant golf, Signature Flight, requesting departure to the East from present position with information Hotel?Q3) Since you never get a cleared to take off but something along the lines of pilot discretion, what is the proper way to read back the departure instructions?

When landing and you are looking to land at a location on the field and not looking to hoover taxi from the activeQ4) How to request landing? Nantucket Tower, Helicopter123AB, 10miles west to land request helo pads Northeast ramp with information Xray?Q5) When cleared to land at a specific area area of the field the pilot gets a disclaimer of pilot discretion so once cleared to fly to the location what is the proper read back call on that?

Lastly is type ratings for the Cat Ratings. If I've already passed some of the Cat flights in a fixed wing can I retake them in a helo for a type ratings?

A1 I don't know of any regulation to say current or present but I hear present position more. I think it's easier to say.

A2 that sounds right... except if you aren't IFR, ATC doesn't need to know your equipment suffix code. If you are VFR and requesting IFR in air or something, then let them know at that time.(That's with anything, not just heli)

A3 Summarize what the ATC told you just as you would if a fixed wing. The "readback" is really just a way for you to ensure you heard the ATC correctly. Believe it or not, very few things are actually REQUIRED to be read back to ATC.

A4 perfect

A5 See A3

I've seen many people retake these ratings... but once you have pass them, you are passed. There isn't a new rating pass/fail submission at the end. So go ahead do them for practice anyways. I'm sure that will be fun. IFR in helicopters are hard for me... I need more practice haha

Last edited by Kyle.Sanders on Wed May 03, 2017 7:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Kyle.Sanders wrote:A3 Summarize what the ATC told you just as you would if a fixed wing. The "readback" is really just a way for you to ensure you heard the ATC correctly. Believe it or not, very few things are actually REQUIRED to be read back to ATC.

I still would like to read or hear a few variations on what to say because at no time do you get approval so I dont want to say "cleared" or "approved" and its hard to not want to say that even if you start with pilot discretion. "N123AB Southeast ramp available to land at pilot discretion"...is that what the controller would like to hear omitting a cleared or approved since they never said those words?

You ask for a vfr departure to the south from non-movement area. I would use:

SCENARIO 1:ATC: N123AB, Oshkosh Tower. Departure from (your position) will be at your own risk.Pilot: Own risk. N123AB.

SCENARIO 2:ATC: N123AB, Oshkosh Tower. Departure from (your position) will be at your own risk. Use caution, maintenance personnel on the roof of Hanger 47 to your south.Pilot: Own risk. Caution for the Hanger 47 guys. N123AB.

SCENARIO 2:ATC: N123AB, Oshkosh Tower. (optional pattern entry instructions) Landing at (requested destination) will be at your own risk. Use caution, maintenance personnel on the roof of Hanger 47 to the south.Pilot: (repeat pattern entry, if given) Own risk. Caution for the Hanger 47 guys. N123AB.